A retired firefighter and paramedic was killed after stopping to help a drunk driver and a car crash victim in Florida on Feb. 24.
Wesley Weysham Jr, 59, stopped on I-75 in Hillsborough County at the site of an accident.
Two cars were blocking all the lanes of the southbound highway. The Florida Highway Patrol said that George Evans, 32, a suspected drunk driver, had stopped his truck in the middle of the highway. Veronica Gonzalez, 31, rammed into the stopped vehicle and the collision blocked the highway.
Weysham, a retired firefighter, licensed paramedic, Gulf War veteran, and volunteer K9 handler and instructor, stopped to help Evans, pulling him away from his truck and treating him on the shoulder of the highway.
While Weysham was treating the suspected drunk driver, a truck driven by 24-year-old Samuel Flores slammed into Evans’s truck, causing it to spin into Weysham before bursting into flames.
Our hearts are heavy today following the loss of Wesley Weysham, a retired Sarasota County firefighter and Sarasota K9…
Tampa, FL bad accident on I-75 south. After car wrecked, another car slammed into the first car. Prayers for all involved pic.twitter.com/IvshjbZ0zu
— Jon B (@JonBorkholder) February 24, 2019
Weysham died at the scene, reported the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Flores, Evans, and Gonzalez were all rushed to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries.
Gonzalez, who suffered cuts, bruises, and an injured arm, said that she couldn’t stop thinking about what Weysham did.
“I just feel really bad, you know, because he was just trying to do a good thing. He didn’t have to do all that, but he did just to be a good person,” Gonzalez told WFTS. “I knew once another car hit, I knew somebody was gone.”
She said she wanted to reach out to Weysham’s family to give her condolences and felt guilty she couldn’t do more.
Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Ronald Drake said Weysham sacrificed his life.
“This gentleman gave his life for the public, being a firefighter. In his heart he was trying to do the right thing, he came out, and it’s just unfortunate,” Drake told Fox 13.
Charges are pending against Evans, the suspected drunk driver.
Fatal Car Crash Statistics
The Department of Transportation said in October 2018 that there were 37,133 deaths from motor vehicle crashes in 2017, a decrease of almost 2 percent from 2016. In comparison, there was an increase of about 6.5 percent from 2015 to 2016 and an increase of about 8 percent from 2014 to 2015. Pedestrian fatalities also declined by about 2 percent. While deaths in both categories declined, officials said more can be done.
“Dangerous actions such as speeding, distracted driving, and driving under the influence are still putting many Americans, their families and those they share the road with at risk,” said National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Deputy Administrator Heidi King in a statement. “Additionally, we must address the emerging trend of drug-impaired driving to ensure we are reducing traffic fatalities and keeping our roadways safe for the traveling public.”
The deaths occurred over 34,247 motor vehicle crashes, resulting in 11.4 deaths per 100,000 people and 1.1 deaths per 100 million miles traveled.
The highest fatality rate was in Mississippi, with 23.1 deaths per 100,000 people, and the highest death rate per 100 million miles was in South Carolina, with 1.8 deaths, according to an analysis of Department of Transportation data by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
A preliminary estimate of the first half of 2018 (pdf) showed that an estimated 17,120 people died in car crashes from January through June, which would be a decrease of about 3 percent from the previous year. The statistics indicate the fifth consecutive quarter in which traffic fatalities declined.
